The First Lock - 25. Part 2, chapter 5

- V -

She hadn’t said a single word while Brent was driving to God knows where. She didn’t even look outside; she just kept blindly staring at her hands. Finally, they arrived somewhere, and she followed Brent into some building, never noticing a light breeze that was playing with her hair. When they walked inside, there was Jackie whose expression was beyond gloomy.

“Katrena,” he said the minute he saw her. “How are...” he stopped talking when Brent furiously shook his head behind Katrena’s shoulder.

“I am fine, Dave,” she said. “Thank you for asking. How are you?”

Brent shook his head again when Jackie opened his mouth, about to say something. He blinked and bit his lip. Brent walked Katrena to one of the doors and pushed it open. She walked into that room, failing to hear his question, and shut the door. The room was rather small; a dim, slowly-blinking light was buzzing softly under the ceiling, splashing an eerie glow on the walls and the floor. She walked up to the table and stared at him. He almost looked as if he was sleeping; the only thing that broke the illusion was a small, accurate hole between his eyes with dry blood caked around it.

She stood there, frozen, listening to her own heartbeat and voices in her head.

“My shift is almost over... I could give you a ride home if you want...”

“Thanks for Kenny!”

“Dogs dig carrots, didn’t you know that?”

“Maybe I should get you one of those smiley face moo-moos... Bright yellow one...”

“Ease up on the hair, will you...?”

“I don’t mind markings, believe it or not...”

“I’ll make sure I pull you over every day...”

“I am not completely hopeless when it comes to kids...”

“Enigma, who are you?”

“What else is there? Something they do on Tatooine that I am not aware of?”

“Either you are telling the truth or you belong in a mental institution... I’ll take the former.”

“If it’s something that involves gerbils, then definitely not.”

She hadn’t shed a single tear. She just stood there without any idea what time it was. Time was something obscure right now; something, that didn’t make any sense. Come to think of it, nothing made any sense right now. After several eons, or maybe decades, or maybe seconds, the door creaked opened and she heard Brent’s voice. She blinked and turned around.

“It’s almost midnight,” he said carefully. “Do you want me to take you home?”

She looked at him thoughtfully, as if trying to translate his words into the language that was familiar to her. Home, she thought. That’s right, Damien is there, and he is probably asleep by now. The minute she thought of Damien, something clicked inside her head, and she was able to move again.

“Please,” she nodded and walked out of the room without looking back.

****

“No, mom,” Danny said in a hushed voice. “I am not lying! Just look at the caller I.D., mom! No, she is not back yet... I don’t know! That’s because I left my phone in the car... No, I didn’t go anywhere, and no, I didn’t run back here so I could make up an alibi...! Mom, seriously...”

The door opened, and Danny sighed with the relief.

“Hey, she is back, okay? Hold on...”

He walked out of the kitchen and handed the phone to Katrena.

“Could you please tell my mom that you just got home?” he said quickly. “She thinks I am bullshitting her...”

“Mandy,” Katrena said after she took the phone. “I just returned home; I did not realize what time it was, I apologize. Yes, Danny is here. Okay, good night, Mandy!”

She handed the phone back to Danny, who was frowning at her quizzically.

“You okay?” he muttered, and she nodded.

“I am fine, Danny. Thank you for asking...” and she walked towards the bathroom.

Danny bit his lip and pressed the phone against his ear.

“Hey, mom,” he said quietly. “Ummm... No, not that,” he grimaced. “I wasn’t even thinking of going anywhere... But mom, you might wanna come here, ‘cause she is...” He paused. “She is kinda weird right now... I don’t know how to describe it,” he shrugged. “Just weird... No, that’s the thing... He is not here! I don’t think she should be alone right now... She didn’t say, and I am kinda afraid to ask again... Yeah, I’ll wait for you... Okay, bye, mom,” he hung up the phone and waited for Katrena to come out of the bathroom.

“How was Damien?” she asked with a polite smile, and Danny blinked. She said ‘Damien,’ and not ‘My monkey,’ as she always would. He didn’t like that.

“He was good,” Danny nodded. “He ate almost half of that meatloaf,” he added. “I couldn’t believe it... I mean, he is tall for his age, yeah, but he is also skinny! Is he always like that?”

“Yes,” she nodded calmly. “He enjoys food.”

“Hey, is it okay if I make some tea or coffee, or whatever...?” he asked in what he hoped was an uplifted voice, even though he was getting more and more scared by the minute.

“Absolutely,” she nodded again. “Would you like my help?”

“Nah,” he grinned. “Coffeemaker I can handle...”

“All right,” she gave him another nod and sat down on the couch, folding her hands in her lap.

Danny looked at her for several minutes, noting her rigidly straight back, lack of movements, and blank expression. He bit his lip and went into the kitchen where he started to work the coffeemaker. Several minutes after that, he heard gentle knocking on the front door. He immediately knew that it was his mother. If she got here so quickly, that meant she was speeding like no other. Usually, Danny would give her shit about it, but right now, he was enormously relieved. He quickly walked to the front door, noting that Katrena didn’t even react to the knocking, and opened it.

Mandy walked inside with a puzzled and worried frown, and glanced around. She blinked when she saw Katrena.

“Kat,” she said carefully, and Katrena slowly turned her head.

“Hello, Mandy,” she said politely, as if Mandy bursting into the house in the middle of the night was a routine thing by now.

Danny was afraid that Mandy would ask her whether she was okay, and he didn’t want Katrena to say once again, ‘I am fine, thank you for asking. How are you?’

“Kat,” Mandy said. “What happened...? Kat?” she called again when Katrena made no reply. “Where is Paul?”

That made Katrena blink finally.

“He is...” she frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember. “I do not remember what that building was,” she said after several minutes.

“Is he all right...?” Mandy asked very carefully, and Danny ignored the satisfied purring of the coffeemaker.

“No,” Katrena said simply. “See, I needed wrapping paper, so I asked him to get some on his way home... Then somebody decided to rob the store...” she stopped talking again.

“Is he in the hospital?” Mandy asked numbly, already knowing the answer to that question and not believing it.

“No,” Katrena said once more. “They shot him,” she looked at Mandy calmly, as if informing her that she found a new spa. “Right between the eyes,” she nodded.

“Danny,” Mandy said slowly. “Go home.”

He ignored that and just stood there, his eyes wide and shocked.

“Danny,” Mandy said louder, and the boy blinked and looked at her. “Go home,” she said softer. “Your dad is waiting for you... Danny, please...”

He blinked very rapidly and opened his mouth to say something. Mandy immediately shook her head.

“Go home,” she said. “Drive carefully, okay?”

He shut his mouth and nodded silently. Mandy watched him leave, and then she went into the kitchen. She came back a minute later and handed Katrena a mug full of coffee. Katrena took it automatically, and carefully sipped hot coffee. Mandy sat next to her, drinking her own coffee without noticing the taste. She thought of saying something, but then decided against it. She couldn’t come up with anything. “What do you say when something like this happens?” she thought numbly. “You say ‘I am sorry’? Or do you say ‘I can’t believe it’? Oh, God... I can’t believe it... Paul is dead...? He can’t be dead, it’s impossible... Not him, not Paul... Oh, God...”

They sat on the couch in complete silence until six in the morning. Mandy had silent tears running down her cheeks, and Katrena’s face was nothing but a calm mask.